England players should fly rainbow flag and St George's cross at World Cup in Qatar

The World Cup is going to Qatar, that is for sure. And you get the feeling they know it.

As the event moves closer, leading local figures in the organisation of World Cup 2022 do not appear to feel the need to be as conciliatory as they might have been when kick-off was a long way away.

Responding to Gareth Southgate’s comments that he thought it was a "great shame" that LGTBQ+ followers of England might not feel safe to travel to the World Cup, Nasser Al Khater, chief executive of Qatar 2022, said: “Somebody with a lot of influence such as Southgate, somebody with a big audience that listens to what he has said, has got to pick his words carefully.”

If there was ever a man who picks his words carefully, it is Southgate and if he says LGTBQ+ fans will have serious concerns about going to the tournament, then he has done his research. If there is one thing Southgate is not, it is scattergun. This is not a guy who fires out accusations off the cuff. And if Southgate’s concerns needed affirmation from within Qatar, it came when Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari - a senior official overseeing security for the tournament - spoke about the possibility of rainbow flags being displayed in stadiums.

“If he (a fan) raised the rainbow flag and I took it from him, it’s not because I really want to, really, take it, to insult him, but to protect him,” Al Ansari said. “Because if it’s not me, somebody else around him might attack … I cannot guarantee the behaviour of the whole people. You want to demonstrate your view about the situation, demonstrate it in a society where it will be accepted.”

Wow, that is just the sort of reassurance the LGTBQ+ community needs ahead of a trip to what is supposed to be one of the